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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio touted an expansion of the city's paid sick leave law Friday, the first legislative accomplishment of his administration and a muscular display of the new, left-leaning government running the nation's largest city.

More than half a million New Yorkers will receive paid sick days thanks to the bill, which will be fast-tracked through the City Council. The new speaker of the council, Melissa Mark-Viverito, stood with de Blasio outside a Brooklyn restaurant to announce the legislation, long a dream of liberal politicians and activists, but her presence seemed indicative of more.

Mark-Viverito is the liberal de Blasio's ideological match and a partner at the controls of government. She leads a council that largely shares de Blasio's beliefs and appears poised to rubber-stamp much of his agenda, a sharp contrast between the often contentious relationship between the council and the previous mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

Mark-Viverito, who was elected speaker last week by her council colleagues, is a longtime ally of de Blasio. The mayor took the unusual step of lobbying council members to choose her, a practice that some critics felt undermined the government's system of checks-and-balances.

De Blasio made it clear that on this issue, the mayor and the council were speaking with one voice.

"This City Hall is going be on the side of working families all over this city," he said. "We're going to work hard and we're going to work together — both sides of City Hall — to make sure that this will be one city where everyone rises together."

The winding history of the paid sick legislation, which was first discussed more than four years ago, offers a window into the changed relationship between council and mayor. Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent who held pro-business policies, opposed the paid sick legislation for fears that it would burden small businesses. He pressured then-Speaker Christine Quinn, a sometimes ally, to stall the legislation over the cries of several elected officials.